More than 1,000 dolphins seen playing with baby humpback in Monterey Bay

Whale watchers got an incredible view early last month when a mother and calf humpback whale were spotted feeding with nearly 1,500 dolphins.

Nancy Black, a marine biologist with Monterey Bay Whale Watching, says there are a large number of anchovies in the bay right now, so they came together.

This happens periodically, and as recently as Sunday, 1,000 to 2,000 were seen together in the bay.

She says the dolphins were playing with the humpbacks in a way called “snout riding”. This is when the dolphins annoy the whales to get them moving faster. The dolphins then catch the surf that it creates.

There were two types of dolphins out with the whales- the Pacific White Sided Dolphin and the Northern Right Whale Dolphin. The Pacific White Sided are a fairly common species, but the Northern Right is rarer.

Black says they stick to the North Pacific and are usually further off shore, but because the deep canyon in the Monterey Bay is so close to shore, this is one of the few places where visitors have a predictable chance to see them.

She says visitors from all over the world come to see the Northern Rights that are known for their lack of a dorsal fin.